Seacem Reef Advantage Calcium. Low Mag. Help

Anyone use this product? I have been using this to dose and regularly check my calcium and DKH. On the bottle it states that it "maintains magnesium and strontium" so even though I had a test for mag I assumed if my cal dose was adjusting the correct levels that mag would also be in check. This couldnt be further from the truth. after questionable issues I decided to test and found my mag to be at 880 at a gravity of 1.023. Where it should be around 1170.

So now im curious as to what it means when it says "maintain"? Does it replace the mag used? or maintain the mag thats there? although it cant really maintain the mag without actuallly raising it right?

I figured since my levels are always in check that my water change schedule was ok but now considering my mag is low i may have to decrease the time in between or increase amount changed. I will check my mag after a 33% W.C tomorrow and average the amount of mag in water changed to mag in new water to find out ppm in my salt mix water but in the mean time whats a good product to mag dose or is reef calcium enough?

 

I use that product banthony but would not rely on it to maintain magnesium in additon to calcium

Magnesium utilisation is minimal compared to calcium in a mature developing set up, so they have formulated the product so that it adds a little Magnesium, but if levels are out, it cannot be used to correct that problem

Seachem have an Advantage Magnesium product which is one option you can use in order to correct your level on that ion
although the Reef Advantage product is almost 100% Mag Sulfate, (Epsom salts) with Sodium Chloride
and there have been many studies showing that just adding Mag sulfate is not ideal , and that you need to add Mag chloride in additon to Mag sulfate in the proper ratio in order to have a balanced Magnesium content

check out BRS for cheap bulk Magnesium additives
check out some of the bottled product such as Brightwell Magnesion which is a balanced Mag additive IMO
it will prove expensive in order to raise your levels by the amount you need now but once you have achieved your target you will find that your actual utilisation of Mag is low thereafter and as such using the bottled product is cost effective enough in my 75 gallon tank as Im only losing between 10 and 20 ppm per week, according to my Salifert test kits

Steve

 

How much do you think is in the saltwater mix? average..any brand?

 

expensive? please inlighten. Isnt a bottle of brightwell around$8? or a diffrent product your refferring to?

 

it varies - some of the reef type mixes can give you over 1400 ppm
some of the basic fish only types between 1100 and 1300 are common

I would have your 880 mag level double checked to be honest as that seems incredibly low to me

Its more expensive simply because you will need a lot of it to get from 880 to around 1300
250 mils of Magnession by Brightwell for example
each mil used will raise each gallon of water by 26ppm Mag

if you have a 50 gallon tank and need to increase it by 300ppm or more
you 12 mils per gallon or 600 mils in total

so you can see, 1 bottle will not do it for your tank size based on the amount you want to increase

but get that result checked before dosing IMHO

to increase Mag level by 300 ppm or more in a tank larger than 20 gallons or so, the bulk ingredients would be more cost effective

Steve

 

That is my 2nd test. believe it or not the first test read so low that it wasnt on the chart. Only other thing I can think is faulty test kit. I will have the LFS double check with there kit.

What about Water Change? Cant I just do s couple large water changes to get it adjusted?

 

Update. I went to the LFS yesterday and tests indeed confirmed my Mag to be around my figure. ( He said 900 but I believe rounded up)

Either way, I did buy the brightwell mag 300gram bottle and made up a solution and started dosing today. but I guess my last question is the last one. Im doing a 33% WC tomorrow. Will this raise my mag to atleast resonable level.

I was curiuos if this would be the case. If my tank is 880ppm and suppose my salt mix is 1300. will this increase my mag to 1020? (880+880+1300/3=1020)? and also should I start checking strontium?

 

the math seems correct to me and yes a water change or series of water changes would certainly help to increase the levels

the thing that concerns me is that its generally accepted that you should not increase Mag by more than 100ppm per day
if you do the 33% water change, then you will be increasing the mag content alone by 140ppm
I feel 2 x 15% water changes made 24 hours apart may be a better option
although I appreciate that this wont give you the 1020 that a single 33% water change would have done

you would have 8.5 x 880 = 7480 +1.5 x 1300 = 1950= 9430 divided by 10 =943 (after 1st 15% water change )

second water change of 15% would give you 8.5 x 943 =8015 + 1950 =9973 - divide by 10 = 997
so a net loss of 23ppm Magnesium - but these 2 x 15% changes mean you stay within the safe limit of 100ppm for both changes
and also helps to avoid any potential shock to the life forms from the abrupt change that a single 33% water change may have created

if you increase the mag content of your new water to 1400 ppm using additions
then that would give you
1st day 7480 + 2100 divide 10 = 958 (an increase of 78 from 880)
2nd day 8143 + 2100 divide 10 = 1024 (an increase 66 from the 958 you achieved day before)

bearing in mind your target is 30% higher than the 1024 you have acheived after 2 x 15% water changes
it might be worthwhile doing the math from a financial perspective
is doing a series of 15% water changes to correct a low mag level
going to be more cost effective than just supplementing the mag, in increments of 100ppm per 24 hour period
it will take you 4 or 5 days to be where you want to be to be safe, whichever way you go

and once you get there, the maintainence required to keep it there is minimal IME

Steve

 

Well that is assuming my S.M. is 1300 as that was just hypathetical math. I will test my Mix. If its only say 1200 I should be close to the safe range right? If not I do believe I will do the series of water changes and now I know to keep a closer eye on my mag levels.